Two information officers who helped make public RTI documents on land allotment to Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurveda in March this year were transferred less than a fortnight later, raising questions on why the officers were penalised for their actions, said a report by The Times of India.

Earlier, IAS officer Bijay Kumar was shunted from the finance department shortly after he questioned the basis of a 75% discount for a land awarded to Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd. The report detailing how the price was knocked down, was based on RTI documents. The land belonged to the Maharashtra Airport Development Authority (MADC).

The RTI documents were received months after the application was filed and appeals were pursued all the way up to then chief information commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad. The then MADC chief Vishwas Patil was summoned to appear in person by him, for a hearing on March 3. However, just 12 days later, two Public Information Officials (PIOs) involved in providing the documents were transferred. Both of them had attended the hearing.

Transfer of information officials

MADC’s marketing manager Atul Thakare who was PIO of its Nagpur branch was moved to Mumbai. Marketing Manager Sameer Gokhale who was a PIO in Mumbai was transferred to Nagpur. Thakare had served in his post for four years and Gokhale was transferred just four months after his appointment as marketing manager.

“The erstwhile MD had assured me of a promotion for my work but I got a sudden transfer instead,” said Thakare. However, Gokhale said, “The transfer may have been for administrative reasons,” as reported by The Times of India.

A MADC official said that the transfers may have been routine. “It is possible the new entrant was sent to our field office in Nagpur and the experienced marketing manager was moved to our head office in Mumbai.”

The timing of transfers, however, has raised concerns. “It is a clear case of victimisation for following the law. It will discourage officials from providing information and serve as a bad precedent,” said Shailesh Gandhi, a former central information commissioner.

The two PIOs had little choice in providing the documents, Bhaskar Prabhu, the convenor of Mahiti Adhikar Manch said. The state information commission can impose a penalty of up to Rs 25,000 on PIOs for denying or obstructing information.

Backdrop of filing an RTI

According to a report by the India Today, Mumbai Congress Chief had filed a petition alleging irregularities in the allotment of land to the company for setting up a food park in the Multi-Modal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN).

Nirupam had alleged that while the current market value of the land is at least Rs 1 crore per acre, Patanjali Ayurveda had received at a throwaway price of Rs 25 lakh per acre. The Bombay High Court had asked the BJP government in Maharashtra whether they gave away over 600 acres of land in Nagpur to Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurveda at a throwaway price.

“We want to only know on what grounds concession, if any, was given to the company. We want to know if the land was given at a throwaway price,” a division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice GS Kulkarni asked the state government. The court had directed the Devendra Fadnavis government to file an affidavit in response to the petition within six weeks.

The court further added, “We want to know if any farmer’s land was taken and allotted to the company.” The affidavit will also have to include the company’s proposal to the government.

Nirupam had further alleged in his petition that Maharashtra government flouted all tender norms to allow the land to the yoga guru Ramdev baba’s company and that the government favoured Patanjali.

Bureaucrat shunted after questioning cheap land allocation

Documents accessed through RTI show that the decision was not uncontested. A senior bureaucrat, then principal secretary of financial reforms, Bijay Kumar has raised concerns in writing about the basis of the price waiver.

Three weeks after Kumar questioned the financial calculations behind the price reduction, he was transferred on 29 April, 2016. The transfer came less than a year and a half into his posting, while the usual tenure is at least three years.

MADC board is headed by CM Devendra Fadnavis told that the entire process was transparent and the allotment followed open bids. He also said Kumar’s transfer was routine and he had been given a posting of his choice.

Kumar was also a member of the sub-committee which the MADC board relied on. The panel was headed by urban development secretary Nitin Kareer. In August 2016, the sole bidder Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd was awarded 230 acres of the land, paying Rs 58.63 crore for a 66-year lease.

Setting the price To bring down the price, the panel first subtracted the cost of providing infrastructure as the plot was in an undeveloped area. That meant a reduction of Rs 1000 per square metre in the base price, working…